LAKELAND | City commissioners voted 4-3 Monday to reject a 2.5 percent merit raise for City Manager Doug Thomas and City Attorney Tim McCausland.Commissioners Keith Merritt, Howard Wiggs, Justin Troller and Don Selvage voted against the proposed raise. Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields and Commissioners Phillip Walker and Edie Yates voted for it."We have just endured the most turbulent year in our city's history," Selvage said. "For us to give meritorious raises at this point, in my view, would be unwise."But Commissioner Phillip Walker said the two deserved raises after the evaluations they received. Both Thomas and McCausland received a "meets expectations" ranking, with overall grades of 4, compared with a 4.4 in 2012. The grades for the evaluation were based on a scale of 1 to 5, with a 5 being the highest and indicating an employee exceeded expectations. The grades were based on a 2013 performance evaluation covering nine work-related skills.Both Thomas and McCausland already received the city's 1.5 percent raise given across the board for workers.Thomas, the highest-paid employee in the city, is paid a yearly salary of $199,368, while McCausland makes $183,830. Raises would have been retroactive to Oct. 1.Yates agreed with Walker that merit raises were deserved."Even though we have all these challenges, this is a city that went on undeterred," Yates said. "With all the, not just clouds, thunderstorms going on this is a city that went on."The proposal for raises came during a year of numerous problems at the Lakeland Police Department, and Thomas and McCausland have been repeatedly questioned by some commissioners about how they have handled a litany of troubles.The department has been the subject of a grand jury report; endured a monthslong sexual misconduct investigation involving more than two dozen officers; had a variety of problems with the way DUI cases were handled; and seen the arrest of one LPD officer on charges he sexually assaulted and stalked a woman while on duty.Later in Monday's meeting, Wiggs asked Thomas to fire Police Chief Lisa Womack in light of a grand jury report released on Friday that criticized LPD and city officials for the way public-records requests were handled and for the way some employees were hired, including Womack, who reports to Thomas."Many in the department feel lost and a need to end these problems," Wiggs said, quoting an officer he said he spoke with over the weekend. "Just once, it would be refreshing to hear some accountability."Wiggs said Fields "avoided accountability and responsibility" as he attempted to handle all the problems at the department.The mayor, who sat next to Wiggs, fired back."You are a lie, and I'm tired of your lies," Fields said to Wiggs, who defeated Fields in a mayoral election in November. Fields and Wiggs glared at each other during an intense exchange in which Fields said that since the election has ended, he won't take being lied to."What I've tolerated up to now is not going to continue," Fields said.He said Wiggs should have listened to a Friday news conference disputing some of the assertions in the grand jury report.Fields said he, Thomas and Womack acknowledged some portions of the presentment were correct. Fields and Wiggs have served on the commission together for more than 20 years.During Monday's meeting, Wiggs also made a motion to fire the chief, but it failed because there wasn't a second. Commissioners later voted 7-0 to respond to each of the nine recommendations made to the city in the grand jury report.The confrontation between Fields and Wiggs wasn't the only outburst at the meeting.At one point, Walker said the city can't seem to move beyond the troubles at the department."We never talk about the positive, and we always have the negative," he said. "Things have turned around in some respect."Walker then lashed out at Troller."You look at me like I'm some idiot, Commissioner Troller, but I'm not," Walker said."Excuse me," Troller said."You heard me," Walker said.Yates agreed with Walker that the problems at the department have already been addressed.Selvage asked Thomas pointed questions about the grand jury report, including whether Womack actually did implement something called the "Jeremy Maready rule," imposed upon Ledger reporter Maready.In response to the Maready question, Thomas said there was a dispute "of information vs. records" when Maready asked questions. He acknowledged Womack did implement the "Maready rule."The presentment said, "This is a policy that all requests for information by Ledger reporter Jeremy Maready must be personally approved and cleared by Chief Womack. This policy was put in place by the chief after Maready persistently requested information on several individuals reportedly involved in a shooting."Maready had requested the same documents from LPD and the Polk County Jail. When he compared what he received from both, he found the ones provided by LPD, which were delayed, were incomplete. And, at certain points, LPD officials maintained the records did not exist."Maready pressed the LPD attorney for reasons why the request was incomplete," the grand jury wrote. "The attorney's response was filled with excuses and confusion."

[ John Chambliss can be reached at john.chambliss@theledger.com or 863-802-7588. ]